WEDNESDAY'S English and Communications paper was the first paper to be examined in the first ever final exam of the Leaving Cert Applied. About 900 of the this year's 65,000 Leaving Cert students are doing the LCA programme.

Pioneering students in St Brigid's Post Primary School in Athy, Co Kildare, were exhausted but pleased as they left the examination hall, reported the principal, Mr Richard Daly. "It was pitched at a very nice level," he said, "and it kept, students under pressure until the very end.

Students at Kylemore College, Ballyfermot, Dublin, were very happy with the paper, according to vice principal, Mr Noel O'Brien. They were pleasantly surprised to find that the work they had done over the past two years enabled them to cope very well. The paper was very fair, he said, and the students had no complaints.

Mr Daly praised the unseen prose passage from Angela's Ashes, by Frank McCourt. The students were very happy with this contemporary offering, he said. However, there were a few quibbles with some of the 28 students in St Brigid's finding the enterprise section difficult while others said that they had difficulty hearing voices on the videoclip (from the television drama Radio Waves).

At Beech Hill College, Monaghan, principal Mr Liam O'Connor expressed himself pleased with the English and Communications paper and said it put down a very good marker for the exams. Students at the college came out smiling.

Yesterday's maths applications paper was equally well received by the 14 students in Mercy College, Sligo. Ms Eileen Crystal, LCA coordinator, said that it was very good paper. Students had plenty of time on questions. They were particularly pleased with the timecard and wages question.